What is the matter with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)?
Does the WICB not understand in this day and age the seriousness with which certain acts are viewed?
And here one is talking about the stoning of the West Indies team’s bus following last Friday’s World Cup win.
Mistake or no mistake it was an act that should have warranted action taken against the Bangladesh Cricket Board in much the same way that football clubs are penalized over the behaviour of their hooligan fans.
Is the WICB too weak to fight, too afraid of the ICC?
That certainly seems plausible following the WICB’s failure to raise its voice in the aftermath of the attack.
One would have expected the WICB to issue a statement condemning the throwing of stones of the bus carrying its senior cricket team back to the hotel after dismantling the much fancied Bangladesh team.
The WICB should also have requested a detailed report from the Bangladesh Cricket Board as to what went on along with guarantees from the International Cricket Council (ICC) that there should be no re-occurrence.
Instead, the WICB issued a release which reeked of subservience and which attempted to make light of the issue.
“The West Indies Cricket Board wishes to advise the public and cricket loving fans that all the players and officials of the West Indies team while slightly shaken by the incident are in very good spirits, are fully focussed on the Cricket World Cup campaign and representing the people of the West Indies,” the WICB reported following the incident.
Seeking to allay fears of the Caribbean people, the WICB further reported.
“Immediately following the incident the WICB CEO Dr Ernest Hilaire was in contact with the team management and received a verbal report on the incident and discussed the actions needed to be undertaken by the team and officials.”
And, to compound matters it added: “The WICB is satisfied with the security arrangements for the Cricket World Cup and the team management will continue to work closely with the event organizers and local officials to ensure that the safety and well being of the players remains paramount at all times.
“The West Indies team has always been warmly received in Bangladesh and treated with the greatest hospitality and we expect this to continue despite this incident.”
Hogwash!
ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, also played his part to down play the incident.
According to a Reuters report, Lorgat described the stoning of the West Indies team bus by angry Bangladesh fans as “a minor incident” not worthy of serious sanctions.
“I don’t believe this particular incident justifies any game being moved just yet.”
He added: “We will continually review. We do have contingency plans, but we have got a very, very robust security arrangement in place and I am extremely confident we will see the tournament through as scheduled,” was Lorgat’s take on the incident.It took the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and West Indies coach Ottis Gibson to put the matter in perspective.
“The West Indies Players Association strongly condemns these acts of violence, “a release from the organization stated.
“WIPA has been in contact with the West Indies players to ensure that they are safe and not injured in any way. The safety of the players and the support staff is of paramount importance and must never by compromised,” the release added.
WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine went further.
“It is regrettable what transpired in Bangladesh; thankfully none of our players are hurt. The potential for terrible incidents like this one today is why we insist that the standards agreed for regional and international matches must be continuously assessed and must be met at all times as it relates to the security of our players and other related matters,” Ramnarine stated.
He added: “We just cannot wait for something more serious to happen to pay attention to the issue of security, we need to be proactive”.
Gibson was more forthright.
“I just want to make it clear first of all and remind Haroon Lorgat of his responsibility,” he said.
“He can’t sit in a hotel room in Chennai, and say they were pebbles. What we heard hitting the bus and smashing glass didn’t seem to us to be pebbles.
The West Indies coach added: “So it is not fair to make a statement like this. We as management of West Indies team here believe that was a ridiculous statement to make.”
What Lorgat and the WICB missed is the fact that the safety of not only the West Indies players but all players participating in the lucrative World Cup competition is paramount.
No amount of money, or apology can bring back a life.
One need not go into the unsavoury attack on the Sri Lanka team a few years ago to realize just how delicate the situation is in countries where cricket is followed so passionately.
One also need not to be reminded why Pakistan is not hosting this particular tournament.
This West Indies Cricket Team under manager Richie Richardson, Coach Gibson and Captain Darren Sammy is doing as much as it can to earn respect on the field of play.
Is it too much to ask the WICB that it attempts to do likewise off it?
